Playground (Rob Mazurek album)
{{Infobox album|
| name = Playground
| type = Album
| artist = Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra
| cover = Playground (Rob Mazurek album).jpg
| released = February 10, 1998
| recorded = March 1 & 2, 1996 and January 6 & 7, 1997
| studio = Idful, Chicago, Illinois
| genre = Jazz
| length = 68:06
| label = Delmark
DE-503
| producer = Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker
| chronology = Robert Mazurek
| prev_title = The Unstable Molecule
| prev_year = 1998
| next_title = 12° of Freedom
| next_year = 1998
}}
Playground is an album by Robert Mazurek Chicago Underground Orchestra which was released on the Delmark label in 1998.[https://www.robmazurek.com/discography Rob Mazurek discography], accessed October 29, 2018[https://delmark.com/product/503/ Delmark Records: album details], accessed October 29[http://www.jazzlists.com/SJ_Label_Delmark500.htm Jazzlists: Delmark Records discography: 500 series], accessed October 29, 2019
Reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = Allmusic
}}
In his review for AllMusic, Rick Watrous states: "A revelation. Cornetist Mazurek and his Chicago Underground Orchestra create some of the freshest sounds of late-'90s jazz. Mazurek and Parker's original tunes have the loose improvisatory feel of Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock's late-'60s compositions, giving soloists free reign [sic] to strut their stuff. ... Imaginative use of instrumental colors and combinations prevail throughout the album".{{allMusic|last= Watrous|first=Rick|class=album|id=mw0000235140|title=Rob Mazurek / Chicago Underground Orchestra – Playground: Review|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}
On All About Jazz Jack Bowers said: "This is an interesting and varied session... Mazurek has abandoned neither melody, harmony nor rhythm, and the band's hard-bop origins can also be discerned from time to time ... Throughout, Rob and the band shrewdly employ uncommon elements - the sound of a glockenspiel or bamboo flute, for example - to accentuate their singular point of view. Everyone is on the same page, and those who fancy Jazz that veers slightly off the beaten path without self-indulgent cerebralism should find this picturesque Playground well-suited to whatever musical byways they might care to pursue"Bowers, J. [https://www.allaboutjazz.com/playground-rob-mazurek-delmark-records-review-by-jack-bowers.php All About Jazz Review] accessed October 29, 2019
Track listing
All compositions by Robert Mazurek except where noted
- "Blow Up" (Herbie Hancock) − 8:17
- "Flamingos Dancing On Luminescent Moonbeams" − 7:43
- "Boiled Over" − 8:08
- "Le Sucrier Velours" (Duke Ellington) − 2:06
- "Components Changes" (Jeff Parker) − 6:23
- "Playground" − 10:23
- "Jeff's New Idea" (Parker) − 6:34
- "The Inner Soul of H" − 3:02
- "Whitney" (Parker) − 7:07
- "Ostinato" − 8:08
Personnel
- Robert Mazurek – cornet, bell, bamboo flute, toy trumpet
- Jeff Parker – guitar, cowbell, recorder
- Sara P. Smith − trombone, glockenspiel, recorder, muffin tin, voice, cymbals
- Chris Lopes − bass, India flute, voice
- Chad Taylor – drums, street sign
- John Herndon − bongos (track 1)
- Dan Bitney − congas (track 1)
- Tony Pinciotti − percussion
References
{{reflist}}
{{Chicago Underground (jazz ensemble)}}
{{Authority control}}